My wife, Judy, and I occasionally stay at a friend's house in Cambria--on the California coast, right on the ocean. They don't have a DVD player (hard to believe, I know) and one of our pleasures is to take a handful of Netflix DVDs with us when we travel.

I was taking my notebook anyway and debating whether to try to feed the video from the built-in DVD drive to the TV.

"A hassle," my buddy David Jung said. "Spend $100 and buy a portable 7-inch DVD player, and don't waste your time and energy on the notebook."

I checked PC World's Product Finder and found plenty to choose from. Geeks.Com had a Nexxtech for $63--but it was refurbished, and I didn't want to touch it.

Dig This: Some people really don't have much to do, except browse around with Google Earth. Yet when they hit pay dirt, it's cool. So check out Beacon, New York's Dog's Head.

Hey, There's No Screen

As I looked at the specs on portable DVD players, I realized I didn't want to schlep around yet another five-pound device. Plus, I didn't need a screen because I planned on feeding the image to a TV, and the gadgets wouldn't be much use on a plane because they have limited battery life.

Then I remembered seeing just the DVD player I wanted at the last Consumer Electronics Show. It's perfect: no screen or battery, but it does have a remote. It's the YDP-700 Yahoo Micro DVD Player, made by Diamond Electronics, which licenses the Yahoo name. FirstStreet sells it for $100, but I've seen it at Target, by way of Amazon.com, for $50. It's only about 8 by 5 by 2 inches in size and it weighs a little over a pound. There is a downside: It's got an absurdly large AC adapter.

Strangely enough, the company rep insisted it wasn't portable: "The unit has no battery, must be plugged into the wall, and has no screen. It is only a very uniquely designed ultra compact DVD Player for your home or office. It does fit nicely into a suitcase, but is not portable."

"No battery?" I fired back. "Of course not, and that's the point of a DVD player without a screen. It doesn't need a battery and it's amazingly small--the footprint is less than an 8 by 11 sheet of paper, It's definitely portable and I can use it in any room in the house, take it along to a hotel or a guest house, or anywhere where there's a TV."

Dig This: Pity the parents of the kids who entered the 2006 Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest.

Sneaky Phishing Expedition

I've seen these surveys before, and even participated in them: Answer some questions and get a reward for your trouble. I did one for DHL the other day and received a $15 OfficeMax gift card.

Not long ago l I received an e-mail from IndyMac Bank. "Heck," I said to myself, "I'll do the silly survey for $15"--even though I don't bank there.

Typical of me, I didn't read the e-mail carefully. The message said the bank would apply the money directly into my account. Duh, I don't have an account with IndyMac. And that's how phishers operate: Hope the dope doesn't pay attention.

Once I saw the "Take the survey!" hyperlink, I knew it was a scam. But I just had to see what the survey looked like--and how the phishers were going to get my nonexistent IndyMac info. Here are the screen shots I took:

• I didn't read this e-mail carefully enough.
• La-di-da--a typical survey.
• Hey, don't you want my mother's maiden name?

Nasty Spyware Attack

I hope you've never experienced a full-fledged spyware attack. If you practice safe computing and use an anti-spyware program like Counterspy or Webroot SpySweeper, an antivirus program (Grisoft's free AVG is the one I use), and a zero-day security tool (like Novatix's free Cyberhawk, you've covered all the bases. (For more on Cyberhawk and how it works, read "New, Free Behavior-Based Security Product.")

Being that you've never been assaulted by spyware, here's your chance to see a nasty attack: It's a video from McAfee titled "Spyware Rubbernecking." I know you'll watch it more than once--I did. [Thanks, Alex!]

Steve Bass writes PC World's monthly "Hassle-Free PC" column and is the author of PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer, available from O'Reilly. He also writes PC World's daily Tips & Tweaks blog. Sign up to have Steve's newsletter e-mailed to you each week. Comments or questions? Send Steve e-mail.